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Question about old comb

I culled a few frames at a time and was storing the old was in a rubermaid tub until I thought I had enough to melt. I took no extra care with the wax other than it was frozen before storage. I cut it out of the frames and put it in the tub. Kept the tub on a shelf and when I would get more wax, I would just throw it in the tub.
Anyway, I took some out of the freezor the other day and I was going to cut it out of the frames. I took the wax tub outside where I was going to work and when I opened the tub.....Low and behold...it was full of green mold. I mean the green furry and almost powderey mold. There was a couple of spots that had some (I would assume) orange lichens. The lichen things looked like tiny mushrooms about 1/8th to 1/4 inch tall. The wax was brittle and powdery. When you touched it, it would fall apart like old newspaper.
I dumped it all and the was some kind of gooey blaack liquid in the bottom of the tub, maybe two or three tablespoons.

So what is up with that and how can I store old used wax to be melted down?

"You have to put down the ducky if you wanna play the Saxophone!" Mr .Hoot

Re: Question about old comb

If it was just wax it would store fairly well but if it has some honey or pollen then things are going to grow on it at room temps. In NC I would think you could store frames in the attic for a short time and not worry about having to melt it down. I have refrigerated frames for over a year without too much trouble.